"Doctor Who." Episode by Episode: Doctor Who: Best of the Christmas Specials

Tonight:

9-9:50PM | BBC AMERICA
Doctor Who

"The Doctor returns in an episode called ?Let?s Kill Hitler.? (And yes, there is a parody YouTube clip in which Adolf reacts badly to the news)."

 

Found it


"I assume I'm awesome in it?"
"Mein Fuhrer ... you hid in a cupboard for most of the episode."

 

Fantastic episode.

And that fan video is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! Brilliant.

 

"Someone put me in a *bleeping* cupboard? And I was only in one scene...

Fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

 

I'm planning to watch them ALL. Got Season One & rarin' to go.

 

Are you including the fan reconstructions of the lost episodes? Because those are where they separate the grownups from the kiddies.

 

Good luck Zaz. Some great stuff to be found but they can be a bit of a chore to watch through at times, particularly some of the acting (check out those cavemen - "Grrrr fire grrrr").

 

I didn't *know* there were fan reconstructions...

 

Oh yeah, they're pretty awesome. Basically they take the audio - all of which has survived - and turn it into a kind of Ken Burns documentary thing using still images taken from production, short 8 mm clips, and naturally the surviving footage that does exist. You can only get them by either getting the VHS tapes directly or via my favorite route, the "alternative" method, but they're much snazzier than just the audio. While the audio by itself has a kind of radio drama vibe, the sense of action can get confusing, which is where the reconstructions really shine.

In fairness they're probably not as great as I'm making them sound, but I've had to watch so many of them (Patrick Troughton is my favorite Doctor and, naturally, he's got the most missing episodes) that it's kind of become my default image of how black and white Who was.

 

I'v also just started watching Classic Who. I just recently got to Marco Polo and have found the audio files. I have some animated and fan reconstructions for some of the episodes, but for most of them I could only find audio. I was under the impression only a few have been done...? Was I wrong?

 

Actually Loose Cannon's up to 25 for 27. They're only missing Web of Fear and Wheel in Space. Unfortunately they seem to have stopped doing the work, so those ones are probably stuck as audio only until some rich fan starts sponsoring animation or something.

 

Do you mean watching Classic Who as well as New Who? Because starting from the beginning of the Hartnell years onward can be tough going. I'm a huge fan of Classic Who, but I wouldn't attempt watching in sequential order - jumping about from Doctor to Doctor helps you get a feel for which era you prefer. Also the serial format of the stories means they're not paced like a traditional hour-long show - trying to watch a serial like The War Games (ten 25 minute episodes) in one sitting will test the stamina of even the most ardent fan.

If you're talking about starting from the 2005 reboot, that is more friendly to contemporary eyes. Though I think the first episode of that is crap.

 

I'm with you on that. One of the classic DVD episodes (it might be The Unearthly Child, but I'm not sure) has a pretty good extra featurette which explores the fans search for old episodes. It has more of an 80's/90's nostalgia interview feel, where fans tell of paying 80-100 dollars (or the pound equivalent) for a grainy VCR copy of somesuch episode. DVD's have helped this, but it's interesting.

But the pacing issue is there. Watching the War Games on DVD is like popping in a 4 hour lecture from the "Bueller? Bueller?" teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There's another classic episode on DVD-The Invasion in which the missing sections are filled in with documentary style images/animation. It's both interesting from a historic perspective, but ye-gads! The middle serials drag on forever. The Cybermen march out of the sewer, and then march, march, march, and keep on marching... But then again, Nicholas Courtney is there as the Brigadier, and any episode with him is that much better.

 

But... The War Games and The Invasion are two of my favorite serials...

 

...and I love The War Games, I really do. But I wouldn't watch the entire serial in one go (unless I was doing something time-intensive and wanted something on in the background. There is simply a lot of padding in there.

 

But... The War Games and The Invasion are two of my favorite serials...

And with good reason. I didn't mean to seem so harsh against these... I was just agreeing with the serial pacing aspect, if one is interested in exploring samples of the episodes throughout the run. (or even powering through all the episodes..)

The story of the War Games is top notch, one of the best of the entire Doctor Who universe. It also sets up the Doctor's own rationale for interference and all sorts of in-universe stuff. But holy cow, is it long... It's like if a production company took the entire 4th season of Star Trek:TNG (which is probably my overall favorite) and made a massive 5 hour long multipart single story, but also interspersed footage of Picard sitting in his room, drinking tea, and reading the collected works of Voltaire in 10 minute clips throughout the episode. The Invasion was kind of like that as well.

Now, I'm not saying every minute of these episodes have to be slam bang action, especially with cerebral shows like Doctor Who. In many ways, I appreciate the 60's pacing, as opposed to the MTV editing and constant yelling that the new series Doctor seems to have embraced. (except for specific episodes like the Christmas Carol special with the beautiful swimming fish, and ethereal singing, and such) But putting these serials together is an exercise in stamina. There is a world of difference between the War Games as it was originally broadcast as 10 weekly 25 minutes serials, and watching it on DVD as a massive 4hour+ story.

 

8-9PM | BBC AMERICA
Doctor Who: Best of the Christmas Specials

Nothing says the holidays like a being from another realm whose purpose is to save the world...

 

Interesting fact, Hitler was in real life claustrophobic. And the three sons of Hitler's nephew made a pact to never marry, thus ensuring that the family line ended with them. I can only imagine how that conversation started.